The Prayer
(MONDAY. 13 JANUARY)
Daniel immediately grabs his three friends for a prayer session, explaining that they will be executed if God does not reveal the dream. Whenever we face a big problem, we also should recognize that our God is great enough to resolve even the most unsolvable challenges.
Read Daniel 2:17-23. What are the two kinds of prayers prayed here?
Two types of prayer are mentioned in this chapter. The first is a petition prayer in which Daniel asks God to reveal the content of the dream and its interpretation (Dan. 2:17-19). The words of this prayer are not given, but we are told that Daniel and his friends “seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon” (Dan. 2:18, NKJV). As they pray, God answers their petition and reveals the content and interpretation of the king’s dream. We can rest assured that whenever we seek “mercies from the God of heaven” our prayers will be heard as well, even if not in such a dramatic manner as we see here, because the God of Daniel is our God too.
In response to God’s answering their petition, Daniel and his friends burst into a prayer of thanksgiving and praise. They praise God for being the source of wisdom and for being in control of nature and political history. There is an important lesson we can learn here. As we pray and plead with God for so many things, how often do we praise and thank Him for answering our prayers? The experience of Jesus with the ten lepers provides an apt illustration of human ingratitude. Out of ten who are healed, only one comes back “to give glory to God” (Luke 17:18). Daniel’s response not only reminds us of the importance of thanksgiving and praise, but also reveals the character of the God we pray to. When we pray to Him, we can trust Him to do what is in our best interest, and thus we should always praise and thank Him.
Read Psalm 138. What can you take away from this prayer of thanksgiving that can help you learn to be thankful to God, regardless of your circumstances?
Additional Reading: Selected Quotes from Ellen G. White
Daniel came before the king, and pleaded for time to bring this matter before the supreme court of the universe, from whose decision there could be no appeal. When his request was granted, Daniel laid the whole matter before his companions, who were united with him in worshiping the true God. The matter was fully considered, and on their bended knees they pleaded that God would give them the power and wisdom that would alone avail them in their great necessity.
“Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” … I would impress upon the youth that Daniel’s God is their God, and whatever difficulty may arise, let them do as did Daniel, “desire mercies of the God of heaven.”
God will not fail His church in the hour of her greatest peril. He has promised deliverance.—Sons and Daughters of God, p. 216.
The patriarchs were men of prayer, and God did great things for them. When Jacob left his father’s house for a strange land, he prayed in humble contrition, and in the night season the Lord answered him through vision… . The Lord comforted the lonely wanderer with precious promises; and protecting angels were represented as stationed on each side of his path… .
Joseph prayed, and he was preserved from sin amid influences that were calculated to lead him away from God. When tempted to leave the path of purity and uprightness, he rejected the suggestion with, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” …
Daniel was a man of prayer, and God gave him wisdom and firmness to resist every influence that conspired to draw him into the snare of intemperance. Even in his youth he was a moral giant in the strength of the Mighty One.—My Life Today, p. 20.
The great men of Babylon were willing to be benefited by the instruction that God gave through Daniel, to help the king out of his difficulty by the interpretation of his dream. But they were anxious to mix in their heathen religion with that of the Hebrews. Had Daniel and his fellows consented to such a compromise, they would, in the view of the Babylonians, have been complete as statesmen, fit to be entrusted with the affairs of the kingdom. But the four Hebrews entered into no such arrangement. They were true to God, and God upheld them and honored them. The lesson is for us. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”—Ellen G. White Comments, in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1167.
And as [mankind] receives daily mercies at the hand of God, he is ever to cherish gratitude in his heart, and give expression to it in the words of thanksgiving and praise for these unmerited favors… .
All should lean upon God in their helplessness and daily necessity. They should keep humble, watchful, and prayerful. Praise and thanksgiving should flow__ forth in gratitude and sincere love for God.—Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 314, 315.
(MONDAY. 13 JANUARY)
Daniel immediately grabs his three friends for a prayer session, explaining that they will be executed if God does not reveal the dream. Whenever we face a big problem, we also should recognize that our God is great enough to resolve even the most unsolvable challenges.
Read Daniel 2:17-23. What are the two kinds of prayers prayed here?
Two types of prayer are mentioned in this chapter. The first is a petition prayer in which Daniel asks God to reveal the content of the dream and its interpretation (Dan. 2:17-19). The words of this prayer are not given, but we are told that Daniel and his friends “seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon” (Dan. 2:18, NKJV). As they pray, God answers their petition and reveals the content and interpretation of the king’s dream. We can rest assured that whenever we seek “mercies from the God of heaven” our prayers will be heard as well, even if not in such a dramatic manner as we see here, because the God of Daniel is our God too.
In response to God’s answering their petition, Daniel and his friends burst into a prayer of thanksgiving and praise. They praise God for being the source of wisdom and for being in control of nature and political history. There is an important lesson we can learn here. As we pray and plead with God for so many things, how often do we praise and thank Him for answering our prayers? The experience of Jesus with the ten lepers provides an apt illustration of human ingratitude. Out of ten who are healed, only one comes back “to give glory to God” (Luke 17:18). Daniel’s response not only reminds us of the importance of thanksgiving and praise, but also reveals the character of the God we pray to. When we pray to Him, we can trust Him to do what is in our best interest, and thus we should always praise and thank Him.
Read Psalm 138. What can you take away from this prayer of thanksgiving that can help you learn to be thankful to God, regardless of your circumstances?
Additional Reading: Selected Quotes from Ellen G. White
Daniel came before the king, and pleaded for time to bring this matter before the supreme court of the universe, from whose decision there could be no appeal. When his request was granted, Daniel laid the whole matter before his companions, who were united with him in worshiping the true God. The matter was fully considered, and on their bended knees they pleaded that God would give them the power and wisdom that would alone avail them in their great necessity.
“Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.” … I would impress upon the youth that Daniel’s God is their God, and whatever difficulty may arise, let them do as did Daniel, “desire mercies of the God of heaven.”
God will not fail His church in the hour of her greatest peril. He has promised deliverance.—Sons and Daughters of God, p. 216.
The patriarchs were men of prayer, and God did great things for them. When Jacob left his father’s house for a strange land, he prayed in humble contrition, and in the night season the Lord answered him through vision… . The Lord comforted the lonely wanderer with precious promises; and protecting angels were represented as stationed on each side of his path… .
Joseph prayed, and he was preserved from sin amid influences that were calculated to lead him away from God. When tempted to leave the path of purity and uprightness, he rejected the suggestion with, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” …
Daniel was a man of prayer, and God gave him wisdom and firmness to resist every influence that conspired to draw him into the snare of intemperance. Even in his youth he was a moral giant in the strength of the Mighty One.—My Life Today, p. 20.
The great men of Babylon were willing to be benefited by the instruction that God gave through Daniel, to help the king out of his difficulty by the interpretation of his dream. But they were anxious to mix in their heathen religion with that of the Hebrews. Had Daniel and his fellows consented to such a compromise, they would, in the view of the Babylonians, have been complete as statesmen, fit to be entrusted with the affairs of the kingdom. But the four Hebrews entered into no such arrangement. They were true to God, and God upheld them and honored them. The lesson is for us. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”—Ellen G. White Comments, in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1167.
And as [mankind] receives daily mercies at the hand of God, he is ever to cherish gratitude in his heart, and give expression to it in the words of thanksgiving and praise for these unmerited favors… .
All should lean upon God in their helplessness and daily necessity. They should keep humble, watchful, and prayerful. Praise and thanksgiving should flow__ forth in gratitude and sincere love for God.—Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 314, 315.
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